New York, You've Changed: Taxi Driver (Part 2)

"New York, You've Changed" is a new Scouting NY site feature in
which the New York depicted in movies is compared with the city of
today. This is not the usual list of shooting locations and addresses
to visit next time you tour the city. Instead, it is a full
shot-by-shot dissection to see what New York once was and what it has
become, for better or worse. I've tried to recreate the angles and
framing as best as possible, and have presented the shots (more or
less) in the order they appear in the film. Today, we delve into Part 2
of our Taxi Driver coverage (Part 1 is here). Enjoy! And for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part 2!).

When we last left off, Travis Bickle was cruising through Times
Square. We then catch him uptown as he makes a drop off at the Hotel
Olcott at 27 West 72nd Street. Here, he drives up to the hotel, and we
see the O LAR Restaurant on the east side. Today, it's a Dallas BBQ.

Curious what O LAR Restaurant was all about? This awesomely bizarre ad from a 1974 New York magazine should tell you all you need to know!

Travis pulls up to the front of the hotel. Note the new awning:

Then, Travis
meets up with his cabbie buddies at an unknown grease joint. As far as
I can tell, this isn't the Belmore Restaurant nor The Terminal/Exchange
bar featured later on in the film. Anyone have any idea where this
might have been? There's a Hess across the street, if that helps.

The next
day, Travis meets Betsy at the campaign office. I incorrectly
identified the building in the previous post -- I trusted the Taxi Driver Special
Edition DVD "Locations Featurette," which has the building at 62nd
& Broadway. As alert reader David pointed out, it's actually at
63rd & Broadway and has completely changed. Nowadays, Betsy would
be coming out of a Bank of America (I've updated Part 1 with new pictures for those who are curious).

Travis takes
Betsy to a place called Charles' Coffee Shop at the corner of 58th
& 8th Ave (long gone, of course). In this shot, we get a glimpse of
the old Museum of Arts & Design building:

A different angle gives us a view of Columbus Circle and the future site of the glass-and-steel Time Warner Center:

Charles' Coffee Shop is now a Duane Reade:

Travis asks
Betty out to a movie, and decides to get her a Kris Kristofferson album
as a gift. He goes to a record store, and though I don't know the
original location, the woman's shirt tag identifies it as a Sam Goody
(one institution I don't mind having gone extinct). Any guesses?

We then get
a shot of Travis driving by a news ticker announcing Palantine's
arrival in New York, and at first I couldn't figure out what the hell
this mundane office building was. When it hit me that it was 1 Times
Square, I couldn't believe how much has changed. Also, I love the ad on
the bus.

Travis then
meets up with some friends at the Terminal Bar (next to the Exchange
Bar), formerly at 41st Street and 8th Ave. Currently, the New York
Times building resides on the property, with a Schnippers restaurant in
place of the Terminal. I realize "Terminal" refers to the Port
Authority across the street, but there's something absolutely perfect
in the double-meaning.

The Terminal Bar was closed in 1982. A short documentary about the place and more information is here.

Finally, we
have the legendary meeting between Travis and child prostitute Iris
(played by Jodie Foster) in front of the Variety Theater. What remains
of the Variety today?

Yes, the
Variety was torn down to make room for another glass-and-steel 21-floor
condo highrise. Originally opened in 1913 as a Nickelodeon theater, the
Variety operated until 2004, at which point it was an off-broadway
theater. It was torn down in 2005. Intelligent Flickr photographer GVSHP took some pictures prior to its demise, and I warn you, they'll break your heart:

We get a tighter angle as Travis pulls up. The bar on the left is now Daydream Yogurt.

A yogurt
place. Just because I'm now feeling particularly angry (really, I want
to drive home the point), here's a picture of the Variety's demolition:

Later, as
Travis drives west on 42nd Street, we are treated to a great view of
8th Ave looking north. First, we catch a man begging in front of a
diner on the east corner. That diner is now some sort of bland pizza
chain called the Villa Italian Kitchen (with locations around the world
-- even Kuwait!).

As we move
west, you can see how much has changed. That cigarette shop now appears
to be an Auntie Anne's pretzel place. Also, note that the phone booth
in the first picture is now a phone stand.

As we continue west, we get a glimpse of the sign for the old Times Square Motor Hotel (free parking!). According to thisNew York Times article, in 1988, "the director of the Mayor's Office of
Homeless and Single Room Occupancy Housing Services...announced the
city's intention to buy the hotel and use it as a residence for the
homeless and as the site of a work-release program for jail inmates."
In other words, a halfway house. Times have changed since 1988: a Westin
Hotel is now on the site.

Finally, as
we complete our journey across 8th Ave, we get a shot of the old Show
World Center porn theater marquee. Though the theater is now the Times
Square Comedy Club/Laugh Factory, Show World is still in business next
door as a sex store, and for some reason, I find that a bit refreshing.

Here, you
can see the building housing the theater in full -- I love its bizarre
height and width, and how it sticks out so oddly from the surrounding
buildings. It almost looks like a giant middle finger flipping off the
rest of Times Square.

Meanwhile,
I'd love to know how much -- if any -- of the awning is originally part
of the old porn theater sign (again, I find it strangely appealing to
think about tourists sitting in the same theaters where countless pervs
spent skeezy nights in Times Square).

Coming soon! Part 3 of our New York, You've Changed: Taxi Driver
series, beginning with Travis's ill-fated date with Besty to a 42nd
Street porn theater. A sneak peak at what was playing then and now:

-SCOUT

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